


Freaking Finals Flu

by YeahScience



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Final Exams, Fluff, Kink Meme, M/M, Sickfic, flu season
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 10:35:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11229186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YeahScience/pseuds/YeahScience
Summary: Jean and Eren are sophomores in college, living in their own tiny, yet homely apartment. Unfortunately, finals and the flu are going around, and Jean comes down hard with the bug. Fluff ensues as boyfriend Eren Jaeger takes care of him.





	Freaking Finals Flu

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt fill for the snk kinkmeme: https://snkkink.dreamwidth.org/19979.html?thread=10462219#cmt10462219
> 
> I saw a sickfic prompt. Of course I couldn't resist. Even if this isn't one of my ships, it's fun to write!

Eren sat peacefully in the middle of the living room floor. Spread around him were dozens of loose leaf sheets and textbooks. The whole scene looked like the pentagram of someone trying to summon a college student. Which was not far from the truth. Eren had a massive exam coming up in his Military Literature class, and he was determined to ace it.

            “AaAaaaAAAAahhHhCHOO!” The veritable explosion made the brunette jump.

            _Well, he’s awake now,_ Eren thought: ‘he’ being his roommate-boyfriend Jean Kirstein. The two had met in their introductory course for their military science degrees, and after months of flirting disguised as insults, the two finally gave in and made out. By the first semester of their sophomore year, they had scraped together enough dough for a crappy college-town apartment. But hey, it sure felt like home.

            Now, however, Jean was knocked flat on his ass by the “Finals Flu.” Stressed to all hell about his upcoming exams, his immune system tanked and he caught the bug that was spreading like wildfire among the students. The poor guy hadn’t been to class in a week, instead wrapped in blankets with tissues jammed up his nose and cold washcloths draped across his forehead (provided by none other than Eren).

            Eren sighed and shut his textbook, tiptoed through the piles of paper on the floor, and padded down the hallway to their bedroom. Jean was sitting upright and pawing at his reddened nose with a wad of tissues. He looked up and saw his boyfriend standing in the doorway.

            “Ugh, I keeb blowing by nose and nothing combs out!” He said in a distressed and furiously congested voice. He gave a dry honk into the tissues. “See?”

            Eren crossed the room and sat next to Jean on the edge of the bed. He felt his boyfriend’s sweaty forehead with the back of his hand and cringed.

            “I don’t think your fever’s going down,” he murmured. To confirm, he grabbed the little green thermometer off the nightstand and coaxed it into Jean’s mouth. While the thermometer’s reading steadily crept up, Eren ran his fingers through Jean’s matted sandy hair.

            “When you get over this, you’re gonna need a haircut,” he chuckled. “You’re losing your precious undercut.”

            “IF I get ober this,” Jean replied, mumbling through the thermometer. Finally, it beeped rapidly and flashing across the red backlit screen was the reading: 101.2. Jean groaned and collapsed back onto his pillows.

            “I hate this!” he cried. “I’b gonna fail by exams and flunk outta school!”

            “Shh,” Eren hushed. He laid a hand on his exasperated boyfriend’s shoulder. “You emailed Professor Shadis, got notes from Mikasa, and saw Nurse Ral at the Student Medical Center. There’s nothing left to do but let your body fight. C’mon, you’re a military science student, you know how to fight.”

            Jean laughed, but his laughs soon evolved in to a fit of hacking coughs, resonating deep from his congested chest. “Ow,” he whined.

            Eren’s heart broke upon seeing his boyfriend in such a state. It almost made him mad. He wanted to personally attack every single virus floating around inside Jean and send them back into the purulent hell from whence they came.

            “Do you think you can get up?” Eren asked. “I’d like to get some food in you, if you can keep it down.” Jean must’ve lost a lot of weight this past week; his hands felt really bony and weak.

            Jean nodded and scooched to the edge of the bed. “Yeah, let’s try it. Besides, I gotta piss like a racehorse.” They laughed at their inside joke.

            “Okay, Horse-Face,” Eren chided. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen, okay?”

            Just as he walked into their tiny kitchenette, Eren’s phone dinged. It was a text from Hange, their TA-turned-friend.

            -Hey, Jean hasn’t been to class in like a week, he ok??

            -Yeah, Hang’, just can’t seem to shake his fever

            -Ok well tell him to hurry up and get better! I’ll talk to Keith about cutting the poor little foal some slack. Maybe have one of the vet students take a look at him lol ttyl

            Like any other college student, their cupboards were despairingly bare. Kraft mac-n-cheese and every flavor of ramen imaginable. But, what was that? Hiding behind a stack of cup noodles, an actual can of chicken noodle soup? Bingo! Literally the best flu cure ever.

            He poured the congealed glop and a cup of water into a saucepan and let it percolate on the stove. The smell was diving. _Poor Jean probably can’t even smell it, with his nose all stuffed up._

Speak of the devil as the pathetic looking being emerged, wearing a futon as a cloak and extra fluffy socks. His teeth chattered audibly.

            “Aw, baby!” Eren gasped and ran to his boyfriend’s side. Supporting him, he shuffled alongside the sick guy and helped him down onto their couch. The movement shook a sneeze loose from Jean.

            “Bless you,” Eren said. Jean smiled. His face was entirely flushed and beads of snot were appearing at his nostrils. “You know, you look a right mess, Jean. If you weren’t so damn attractive, you’d be an eyesore.” Jean didn’t have the strength to come up with a witty response, so he just stuck out his tongue.

            Eren heard a strange sizzling coming from the kitchen and turned his head to the noise. _The soup is boiling over! Shit!_ He rushed towards the stove and snapped off the heat, furiously blowing at the steaming liquid. Jean giggled at the sight. His boyfriend then found a clean bowl and clean-enough spoon (dishes are rarely done in their apartment) and assembled a heaping bowl for his lover.

            Trying desperately not to spill any of its contents, Eren waddled over to his bundled boyfriend on the couch and set the bowl on the coffee table. Jean groaned as he sat up. Every single one of his muscle fibers ached terribly.

            He paused when he felt a gently hand rub across his back. Closing his eyes, he leaned into Eren’s touch. All the pain in his back seemed to melt away. It was absolutely delightful.

            Unfortunately, it didn’t last. “Jean-boy, I think it’s time for your next dose of medicine.”

            “Nooooo,” Jean whined. “It tastes horrible!”

            “I know, honey,” Eren sympathized. “Nobody likes flu medicine. But it’s getting pretty late in the night; how about I give you NyQuil to help you sleep?” Jean shrugged and diverted his attention to the soup. It was fiercely hot but the temperature seemed to soothe his sandpaper throat. After the first couple steaming spoonfuls, his nose began to drip, returning him his clear voice.

            Eren reappeared with a cap of purple liquid and a handful of tissues.

            Jean cringed as the vile syrup slid down his throat and stung at his taste buds. It bobbed halfway down as though threatening to come back up. Jean managed to force it down into his gut and immediately washed it down with a slurp of soup.  

            “Atta boy,” Eren beamed, brushing Jean’s bangs out of his face while he ate. “You’ll feel better with some food in your belly.”

            Jean succeeded in consuming about 2/3 of the bowl, leaving both him and Eren feeling satisfied. They sat snuggled on the couch together for a few minutes. The blinds were open, allowing them to look down as panicked students rushed to and from the library, all while being dusted with fluffy snow. _Jean loves the snow,_ Eren thought. _I bet he wishes he was out having a snowball fight instead of here sneezing his ever-loving brains out._ Timing on point, Jean spasmed with an explosive sneeze, then another, and another. Eren cringed.

            “Sorry, hon,” Jean grumbled, wiping his nose with the balled-up tissues. What little was left of his voice was raw and crackly. Eren only hugged him closer.

            Suddenly, Jean’s mouth parted in a cavernous yawn, so wide it caused his eyes to tear up. Eren gave him a playful shrug.

            “Sounds like someone’s tired,” he jested. Jean nodded through another massive yawn.

            “That NyQuil is really kicking in,” he huffed. Eren helped him lean forward and stand up, albeit a little wobbly. The pair shuffled back to their bedroom, Eren holding the back of the futon like the train of a wedding dress. _With Jean as the blushing bride_ , he though devilishly.

            They successfully reached the bedroom, and Jean immediately landed on the bed with a solid “whump.” By this time, the poor guy was having trouble keeping his eyes open and was blinking heavily. Eren rearranged the pillows and blankets to provide Jean with maximum comfort and wrapping to shield him from the cold.

            Bending down, Eren laid a gentle kiss right on Jean’s still-sweaty forehead.

            “Are you crazy?” He roared, then coughed harshly. “You’ll get sick, you suicidal bastard!”

            Eren shook his head stubbornly. “Get some sleep, baby. I love you.” He began walking backwards away from the bed to keep his lover in sight as long as possible.

            Jean peered out from his fortress of fluff. “Love you toooooo-” he attempted to return, only to be cut off by an enormous yawn. His head fell gently onto the pillow.

            Jean was already snoring lightly by the time Eren had latched the door shut. And for some reason, Eren felt that the worst of this flu was already behind them. Jean would be just fine. All he needed was some TLC.


End file.
